Riding The Metro In Copenhagen: An Easy Way To Get To and From The Airport

people walking in a terminal

This is part of my 18,000 Miles For Good series.  I hope you’ll stay tuned for the rest of the posts:

I’m partial to trains and subways when I travel. I don’t mind a taxi, much prefer a service like Uber. However, I prefer a train over both. I can see the network and stops, research the schedule ahead of time. And, trains don’t generally get stuck in traffic.

Copenhagen’s Metro system is a great example of this. There’s also a second train network in Copenhagen, though I haven’t spent any time on it. When I exited the departures hall, it was easy to follow the signage to the Metro station. It was only a couple hundred feet away.

Copenhagen Metro

There are automated ticket machines and agents to help you if you can’t figure things out. The ticket machines wouldn’t take my US-based chip and signature card. However, I was able to use my debit card and pin just fine. I really wish the banks that issue the credit cards in my wallet would issue pins to those of us that really want them.

Copenhagen Metro

It cost me 12 USD to buy a 24-hour pass for zones 1-4 in the city, which includes to and from the airport. Another short walk took me to the escalator that leads to the train platform.

Copenhagen Metro

There are check-in stands similar to Disney FastPass outside each station, as well as check-out stations (lit up in blue and red, respectively). I saw plenty of folks touching their cards to the check-out stations. Their cards looked like a plastic, more permanent version of what I had.

Copenhagen Metro

While there was an audible beep when they “checked in” my card made no noise.  I figured I was fine since the time I purchased the ticket was printed on my card and just went on my way. I was never stopped and asked about my card though there were police officers at a couple of the stations.

Copenhagen Metro

Copenhagen Metro

Copenhagen Metro

Copenhagen Metro

Here’s a map of the Metro system I found. It doesn’t do a great job of overlaying the city but should give you a general idea.

Copenhagen Metro

The Metro line runs to downtown. I went downtown twice in my short 1-day stay in Copenhagen. The first time I wandered to the Central station (Kobenhavn) after figuring out the hard way that the donut shop I waned to check out was closed on Sundays. More on that later.

I noted that there was a train that ran from Kobenhavn to the airport. That explains the sign I saw in the terminal that said “Bus, train, metro”. It’s still a bit unclear to me how much of the “train” is covered by the metro ticket.

The Final Two Pennies

I had no problem navigating the Copenhagen Metro system.  The trains were clean and not overly packed.  The stations were all easy to navigate.  Pricing was perfectly reasonable and certainly cheaper than a cab to get downtown.  I would recommend it as an option for anyone traveling to Copenhagen.

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10 Comments

  1. So just how much of the train was covered by the ticket? Did the daily pass of $12 also cover a trip into Sweden? I’m not sure how far out Zone 4 is. We’re headed to CPH on the $192 R/T fare next year. Oh, and the name of that donut shop?? 😉

    1. It doesn’t cover the trains across the bridge to Malmo. It’s for Intra-Copenhagen travel.

      It’s rare for the Danish police to check the tickets. It’s even a coin toss on whether or not a passenger encounters the roaming contracted ticket checkers — different than the police — checking the tickets.

    2. The Around the Sound ticket offered by Skanetrafiken at a couple of spots in Copenhagen and more spots in southern Sweden allows for 48 hours of travel in Copenhagen and beyond, including one (one-way) crossing of the bridge, a ferry between Helsingor (DK)and Helsingborg (SE), and unlimited travel on the some public transport along the Danish east coast and in all of the Skane area of Sweden. This ticket for mostly unlimited regional travel costs closer to $30-36.

      Note a one-way crossing of the bridge by train usually costs about $12-15 for a single adult ticket. You don’t want to know what the bridge toll is for cars for drivers unfamiliar with the system: over $50 each way.

  2. You can also download the mobilbilletter app for your phone and purchase tickets directly on there for an even easier time! And while not strictly donuts, check out the pastries at 108 and Meyer’s bagerei

  3. Oh no. The Donut Shop is closed on Sunday!! Darn. This is my first, and only disappointment in Copenhagen.

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